monticellotimes. com Salute to Veterans • Thursday, November 6, 2025 Page 13
HOLIDAY SALUTE | HISTORY Military Actions at Christmas
While Christmas is traditionally a time of peace and joy, it’ s also the anniversary of several military actions.
Celebrate these troops’ hardship and sacrifice as you sit around the tree this year.
1776: WASHINGTON CROSSES THE DELAWARE
Late on Christmas night, Gen. George Washington marshaled his troops to cross the icy Delaware River into Trenton, New Jersey, in the Battle of Trenton.
The win raised the frozen Continental Army’ s spirits and revived the hope of American colonists, who were beginning to fear for their battle for independence.
1864: THE FIRST BATTLE OF FORT FISHER
Christmas 1864, the Union attacked a Confederate stronghold at Fort Fisher in North Carolina. They tried to blow up the fort’ s walls adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean with an explosives-packed warship, but that failed. On Christmas Eve, they bombarded the fort with heavy gunfire. By Christmas morning, Union commanders attempted to prepare an area for a troop landing, but that didn’ t work, either. The fort didn’ t fall until
January 1865, three months before the Civil War ended.
1868: CONFEDERATE PARDON
President Andrew Johnson extended a full pardon and amnesty to Confederate soldiers and sympathizers who“ directly or indirectly, participated in the late insurrection or rebellion.” The Civil War had ended more than three years earlier.
1896: STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER
John Philip Sousa, a former director of the U. S. Marine Band, wrote“ Stars and Stripes Forever” on Christmas Day 1896 while crossing the Atlantic on his way home. It became American’ s national march in 1897.
1972: OPERATION LINEBACKER II
The Christmas season of 1972 found American troops in the middle of the biggest bombing mission in military history as it strafed North Vietnamese forces in Operation Linebacker II. This operation consisted of 11 successive days of raids by B-52 Stratofortress bombers, dropping 15,000 tons of bombs in 729 sorties.
The U. S. Department of Defense says the raids destroyed or damaged 1,600 structures, 500 rail targets, 10 airfields and 80 % of North Vietnam’ s electricity-generating capability. From U. S. forces, 15 B-52s were destroyed, killing 35 men and leading to the capture of nearly 40 more.
Thank you, veterans.
Your courage, sacrifice, and commitment is felt in our communities every day.